Southern Hospitality tops Green Harbor fest

Friday

Aug 15, 2014 at 6:40 AMAug 15, 2014 at 12:23 PM

Southern Hospitality, which headlines Sunday's Green Harbor Roots Festival at the Marshfield Fair, is a supergroup by any measure, boasting three lead vocalists who are also compelling soloists on their instruments.

Southern Hospitality released its debut album last year, and "Easy Livin'" is a dazzling collection of Southern musical styles, from country to blues to soul, funk, gospel and jazz, with hefty helpings of Southern rock too. A tune like "Fried Neck Bones and Home Fries" is both a nod to down home cooking and a funky bit of rhythm and blues heat. But a song like "Kind Lies and Whiskey" could easily be mistaken for an Allman Brothers Band cut, or some long-lost nugget from Lynyrd Skynyrd's heyday.

And when you see the video for the elongated version of "Don't Feel Like Going There Today," an easy-rocking slow blues, J.P. Soars may blow you away with his fluid single-note runs on hollow-bodied electric guitar, or Damon Fowler's inventive guitar solo might amaze you, and Victor Wainwright's marvelously greasy keyboards keep the whole thing groovin'.

All three of the principals had successful solo careers going before Southern Hospitality, none more so than Fowler, who was five albums into a career that burst out of the southeast to national prominence over the last decade. An abnormally creative and melodic guitarist, Fowler also shifts between acoustic and electric guitar, lap steel, and even dobro at times, while also employing odd tunings for even more unique effects. His albums are mostly his own compositions, and he performs with the kind of fire and passion that has earned him slots with such music immortals as Delbert McClinton, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, and The Radiators.

Fowler had landed a record deal with national blues imprint Blind Pig Records in 2007, and had released his second Blind Pig album, "Devil Got His Way" in 2011, just before Southern Hospitality happened, quite by accident. All three frontmen had performed on a festival near their northern Florida home bases, and so a late night jam session was a natural way to unwind. People who heard the ad hoc group were astonished at the sound, and almost immediately there were offers for the trio to play.

But how did Blind Pig react when Fowler told them he wanted to play, and record, with a new band?

"At first they said 'Are you sure about this?'" Fowler said with a laugh from his Florida home. "But then they flew out to see us, and once they heard us they said 'sure.' It's been a great project for all of us. Now everyone's fans are aware of all the other guys' music too, so it's been both a fun project, and really helpful to all of us."

Normally as a solo act, Fowler sings and plays with his trio, but Southern Hospitality allows him to share the spotlight.

"I know, after a summer of Southern Hospitality gigs, I feel like I haven't been to the gym for awhile when I go back out with my trio," said Fowler. "I get spoiled, no doubt. In this band I'm singing about a third of the songs, and that's a great way to go. I definitely notice how much different it is when I go back to my trio, and how much harder work that can be."

Some of the band's music is entirely written by individual members, while some other tunes are collaborations. Since they all come from slightly different musical backgrounds, the final product is a vibrant melange of American roots music styles.

"We have each brought our own songs into Southern Hospitality, and also collaborated," said Fowler. "The last time, I know the songs that turned out best were the collaborations, so I'd like to focus more on that, going forward. We'll be doing another record project real soon, but right now I'm expecting a baby, and Victor and JP have their own solo records to release very soon."

"My uncle was in a country band in the 1980-90s," noted Fowler. "They would play a load of George Jones, some Elvis, and maybe some Skynyrd to close out the night, so my background was in country honky-tonk. I did hear a lot of Southern rock, like The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, Grinderswitch, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I love all that stuff. JP actually came out of a heavy metal type scene when he started, while Victor is from Atlanta, and he has a very honky tonk background, with a lot of Jerry Lee Lewis mixed in. And then of course I also like jazz and reggae, which is all fun music to play. All of that comes out in our music, but we also still play a lot of blues too."

Fowler had picked up guitar as a young lad, but his romance with the lap steel came about much more spontaneously. That instrument, which can mimic pedal steel and thus lend Fowler's music a country feel, gives his music, and Southern Hospitality's, more range and sonic variety.

"I had always been attracted to slide guitar," said Fowler, "amd so from a young age I had been trying out how to do that. Then, there was a music store in my neighborhood closing down, and among their bargains was this lap steel, a Gibson BR-9, hanging on the wall. No one was buying it, and it was only $100, so I bought it. I doubt if I even picked it up for a year to play it. But eventually I did and I loved it."

Both Fowler's brand new solo album, "Sounds of Home," and the Southern Hospitality CD were recorded at Tab Benoit's home studio in Houma, Louisiana, with the Crescent City soulman serving as producer. Benoit has been a longtime pal of Fowler.

"Working with Tab was really cool," said Fowler. "Playing around the Southeast here, when I started out Tab was the guy playing all the big rooms. But when he was done playing his theater show, or whatever, he'd often come out and sit in with me at my bar gigs. We had found out very early that we had similar tastes in music, and he became a great friend."

"Tab doesn't ever want you to rehearse in the studio," Fowler pointed out. "He prefers that we just get in there and do it, and everything is recorded live. You really get that human element that way, and a sort of flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants energy. Tab insists you come in with no preconceived notions, and I'll admit some takes come out better than others, but the end result is that we captured some really great musical moments."

Fowler has played with both Johnny Winter, who died last month while on tour in Switzerland, and Delbert McClinton, who despite triple bypass surgery in March, was in fine form when we heard him at the Narrows Center on July 5.

"I wouldn't play slide guitar the way I do if not for Johnny Winter," said Fowler. "He was always onem of my musical models, and when I got to tour with him, 20-25 gigs over the past couple years, it was a great experience. To be able to hang out and talk music with him, and gain his respect, was a gratifying experience. I loved Johnny Winter."

"I love Delbert too," Fowler added. "His music is blues, but also country, honky tonk, funk--a real melting pot of all kinds of styles. But it all ends up falling under one category: good music."

LATE DATES: Catch Braintree guitar wizard Tim Mahoney & the SleepEaters Saturday night at Home Ice in Quincy; or get your rockabilly fix with Memphis Rockabilly Band at The Randolph AmVets Post, and both gigs are free admission.